I really hope I'll be able to do this contest. Hurricane Irma might be hitting my area soon, so I may not have power for a few days. Hopefully, it'll only be a glancing blow and I'll be able to upload it on time.

>>RogerDodgerWell, you could maybe show all the prompts under 'prompt submission' until voting starts. With a space for yours at the top of the list or whatever. Then hide that and show the stuff under 'voting' after voting starts.

Alternately, adding a day to the the timer under 'voting', so it shows the actual stop time for the voting phase, might help. Or adding something like 'voting begins in' to show it's counting down to the start of voting might work.

“There’s no sense in writing further–all good tales have been related,”So they said, and I accepted–let my talent fallow rest.Turned to chatting and to crosswords, and I read till I was satedMining quips from old dear poems I had resting in my breast.

Till a hidden voice came rising from the weary edge of chaosAnd it spoke to all the wonders I’d been hoarding in my heart.“We are out there–we are writing–we will let no one gainsay us–For we dance among the Muses. Come and join us, here’s the start!”

>>GroaningGreyAgonyThank you for this. Sometimes I fear that my ideas are just weird, and/or that I peaked 1 or 2 years ago and have largely been in decline since then. This is good encouragement to do the thing anyway. ^^

I didn't get any notifications for this contest to my email (gmail) this time. Grrr...

That said, the prompt-title already exists: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/5646/true-colors In fact, we featured it on the EFNW Fanfic Spotlight the first year I ran it. https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/317936/everfree-northwest-fanfic-spotlight-4

So, contest aside, I seriously suggest everyone read that story. It's one of those rare things from the early fandom that's still undiscovered yet beautiful.

Now, how do I write my own story on this prompt that has nothing to do with that?

>>Zaid Val'RoaI'll confess I had the idea for the one I'm writing now a month or more ago, and I stubbed-out possible short/long descriptions for it that could work for FimFiction, but that's all. Very glad the prompt seems to work for the idea; I went back tonight and re-read those descriptions and words just started happening. :-P

What's up with that? I mean, I know I suck about getting stories published, so the lack of a Horizon Embrax story is just sort of the default, but how is this ship not a gigantic cruise liner filled with the entire fandom taking a vacation from their Appleshys or Harshlestias or Spikinkies or whatever people were OTPing before?

Well, it's down the last day and I've got nuthin'. Since I went off-campus to go on FimFiction and YouTube much of today (they're blocked on my campus), I'll be doing my homework tomorrow. Chances of getting 2000 words together is rather nonexistent.

>>horizon Somebody posted a dragon/changeling foal in one of my Facebook groups the other day.

Sometimes you get an idea for a fic that seems to mesh perfectly with who you are and things you want to say.

In my case, I was going to write True Carapace, a story about the changeling from the recent episode who feels like they were metamorphosed into the wrong color chitin. Plenty of room for drama and comedy (the latter from extremism, e.g. "color is a social construct"), and I'm trans so I have a huge well to draw from.

Problem is, I'm just not interested in writing about that right now. There isn't anything I want to say in that domain at the moment. As most of you know, if I don't have a message, I can't write.

But then...

I remember the things I'm good at writing, and what really interests me, so I get another idea.

So Hurricane Irma hasn't cut me off yet, but something even worse happened...I couldn't get a firm idea of what to write! XD

That, combined with the fact that I spent the last two days helping my family members put up window boards for the hurricane, has left me rather tired and reluctant to sketch anything up. I'll sit this one out, but I'll be sure to check out the stories the rest of you write.

I had a really, really crummy week, and next week only stands to get crummier. I want to get my idea out and posted today, and I'm gonna do my best to get that done, but I've got so much other work to do...

I haven't missed a long-form pony writeoff since I started doing these, and I don't want this to be the month where I break that trend.

Twilight casts a spell that changes the colors of the Elements of Harmony, rearranging everypony's cutie marks! Then she casts another spell to fix that problem, and then for some reason she grows wings.

AHHhhh I'm doing this for the first time and I've been up writing for at least twelve hours straight, and it feels really good and nothing like this has happened in a long time, but what if I don't finish on time AHHHhhh.

You guys, I... I don't know. I turned something in, but I don't know what the hell it is. I didn't even edit it, man, I just, I wrote it disjointedly over a period of hours and threw it into the submission box and said hai, dekimashita!

I don't know if I can bring myself to read it. I'm just. My brain is full of.

Phases of Writeoff Writing- Oh, this is going to be the prompt? I'll never think of anything.- This might work, if I stretch it.- Writing this is like pulling teeth. I'll never get done.- Ok, now I have too much. I'll have to prune. (optional)- I suppose it looks ok, but I should edit.- Well, that's about as well as I can edit it.--- Deadline passes- Oh, I can't believe I left that in there.- It's a disaster. I should pull it out.--- First round voting over ---- Well, it must not be that bad, even with all the typos.--- Final done --- Not bad. I still need to do a lot of work on this before I think of publishing.

I'm up to "That's about as well as I can edit it" now, and am going to bed.

I feel like my experience every writeoff maps really well onto the cliched poor bar experiences.

Bring a really bad idea home, fool around with it for a bit, realize I'm getting worn out and hurry up to finish, pass out, and wake up filled with a distinct feeling of shame and regret, wishing I could take it all back.

Submitted with ten seconds left on the clock. My shitty connection had scared me, I thought I wouldn't be able to submit it, even though it was finished. Unfortunately for you, my story is in, so you'll have to read an mess of misspelled words. Mwahahahaha!

This was a really enjoyable character piece, one which reminds me how good Slice of Life can be.

The interactions between Pinkie and Mayor Mare were endearing, and my only complaint is that I wish we coul have had more scenes with them talking, and bonding, and getting to know each other more so Mayor Mare had a more defined character arc. Right now she opens up to Pinkie a bit too quickly in my opinion. I wish the change could have been more gradual, but other than that, this was a solid entry.

I did get an inkling of what was happening early on, but I loved the surprise. It didn't end exactly how I expected, but the ending was a great twist. I definitely was not expecting that to be the cause.

Since I haven't read any other stories yet, this one tops and bottoms my slate, though more tops than bottoms.

This was really heartwarming, and I mean it. There are some good emotions in this story, though perhaps they needed a bit more room to breathe.

A lot of the scenes felt like short skits that didn't tie into the whole story in any particular order. Also, I was expecting Scootaloo to play a larger role than just Rainbow Dash's sattelite, maybe serve as some sort of thematic parallel between Dash and her uncle and Scootaloo and Dash. Also, there's the matter of the story stopping rather than properly ending. It's not as though it needed much to get a better ending, just have Dash have one final thought about her uncle and you're set.

Welcome! Thank you for submitting your story. I'm sure I'm speaking for everyone when I say we're glad to have you here.

Now that the stories are in, people tend to go through and offer reviews and/or criticism. Just as there are different kinds of stories, so there are different kinds of feedback. The goal is typically to keep this constructive and useful, though be aware that sometimes that doesn't happen.

Feel free to contribute feedback if you want! Be aware that others are doing so as well. Whatever you do, please make sure not to compromise your anonymity until your story shows up with your name next to it in the Gallery. There's no special notification of whether your story made it to finals or not, other than to check that view.

Also be aware that the Writeoff tends to draw some very established and talented participants, so please don't get discouraged no matter how things turn out. Someone's going to have to come in last place no matter how strong the field may be. Competing for Horse Points (TM) is certainly diverting, but the more important thing is to keep growing as an author.

That was lovely, and I must commend your ability to make me care about these characters in little over 5k words.

Which is why I believe the story's shortcomings aren't due to your lack of skills as an author but probably due to other factors. Lack of time? Started to write too late? Writer's block? House was flooded and had to fight the sharks that swam in? Whichever the case, I feel this story only skimmed the surface of its potential. The relationship between Palette and Du Hast Hoc was barely brushed upon (Hah!) even though it is arguably the most important one in the story. Likewise, Silver and Syccamore shone in the small parts they had, but they never got properly fleshed out.

The foundation for a great character piece about an artist finding meaning through his craft is there, and I trust you can deliver with a little bit of time.

S1 fanfiction in this year and age? You spoil me, author. I don't know how to feel about the lack of Beatles references, though.

Anyway, this was... Nice. Really nice. Each of the M6 had a little time to shine and we also get some solid character interactions. All in all, a very enterteining and somewhat nostalgic story. It pains me to not have much else to say. I would have liked to know a bit more of the history of the Fields, or more about Twilight's past experiences with strawberries.

I just want to add that, usually, we have two people (>>QuillScratch and >>Not_A_Hat) organising a little podcast on the Discord server, where they talk about some stories selected by the audience. I said usually because sometime, they tend to get lazy :pSo feel free to join to listen to what they have to say (know that if you can't be around at the time it is airing, there may be a record available)

I'll both agree and disagree with >>Zaid Val'Roa here. I had the same feelings, but they weren't in the same amount.You indeed have some great and heartwarming moments between your characters, and your structure and your premise is interesting enough to keep me at least engaged until the end.

However, you may have more than 7,000 words, but your whole story feels cramped. We have many characters (citing them by memory: Rainbow Dash, her parents, Scootaloo, Sirrocco, Sirrocco's twins, Sirroco's dad, several members of the Wonderbolt, Gale — who I guess was one of Sirrocco's wife, and probably others I forgot). That's a bit too much. While I must admit each one felt they had their moments, I'd have liked to have less characters and to spend more time with them.Also, there are a lot of different scenes. And even though none felt pointless or anything like that, I have to echo >>Zaid Val'Roa saying that your whole story needs more room to breathe. We switch from one scene to another and sometimes, the connection doesn't feel tied enough.As for the tone, I have some mixed feelings about it, especially around the beginning. Something tragic happenned, but we still see characters teasing each others, like if nothing had happened. I understand that life don't always stop when these sort of things occur, but the tone keeps switching back and forth between a sad tone and a slice of life tone. Maybe think about keeping one tone per scene.

Anyway, I feel like, once again, I spent more words talking about what I didn't like and not enough on what I liked. So all in all, you have a compelling story to tell. My main concerns all relate to the fact that this story needs morte time and words. Your premise is engaging, the conclusion, while a bit rushed, feels satisfying, and I wouldn't cut anything from it. It's quite the opposite.

So thank you for writing, and good luck on expanding it for FimFiction (if that's your plan).

I think it would have been better had you ended it at "The coolest." As it is now, you go from the seriousness of fighting, to fears, to making up. And then five short paragraphs of humor. It doesn't feel quite right.

Triple yes for this one. From the beginning to the very end, it was cute and heartwarming.

Pinkie's voice is on top, with a good balance of already existing lines from the show and made up ones. So good job with that.

About the story, it's quite fitting the tone of the show, and I love when someone manages to get closer to it.

As for the pace, even if there isn't anything really out of the ordinary, switching from one POV to the other, there is still this little part with Pinkie asking ponies what they think of Mayor Mare.

My only complaint would be about Mayor's voice, which lacked un je-ne-sais-quoi that would make it stronger. But aside from that, it is a very compelling and solid story. Thank you very much for sharing.

Also

Applejack bucked the tree behind her [...]. “Well, I can tell you that the Apples wouldn’t be the Apples if it weren’t for Mayor Mare."

September is the coolest month, readingPonies out of the Writeoffs, mixingPoetry and philosophy, stirringHearts with blank verse.Readers point out flaws, noting"thoughtest" in line one, openingweak with Ye Olde Englishe tongue-tangles, yet

This was quite fun, although none of the links redirecting to a specific part of the List of Ponies wiki article don't work well, and makes you wonder why Twilight hasn't looked into the mechanics of the map a bit more. Be that as it may, this was a fun little story that delivered on a few chuckles. I don't really see how to expand this beyond what has been presented in a way that doesn't feel like padding, so I fing myself short of constructive criticism.